Saturday, October 18, 2014

Sneak Peek #2 Thick as Thieves

I've wanted to share another sneak peek from my upcoming adventure, Thick as Thieves, for some time now, but she who writes for me (you know her as the author, Mrs. M) has had serious family obligations the past two weeks. A sick daughter, misdiagnosed and suffering because of it, and 8 children to care for and homeschool. She had no time to keep up my blog! But by God's grace she is home now and her first order of business is to let me share a new character via a short excerpt. You met this new character in the book trailer in a previous post---Macy (Marcella) Walker. She makes me shiver just thinking about being anywhere near her, and not just because she--so Virginia Foster informs me in a most abrupt manner--Macy might carry . . . *gasp* lice.
Go here to see SNEAK PEEK #1.

This excerpt is from Chapter 6. It's a hot May afternoon and Andi is stuck at the chalkboard trying to figure out how to parse a difficult grammar sentence, while Cory is agonizing over a confusing math story problem. The two have just whispered a promise to help each other out, since Andi loves math and Cory loves words. He seals the promise with a wink, much to Andi's surprise and embarrassment. A loud noise startles her.

Andi dropped her chalk and spun around, Cory’s bold gesture
forgotten. She heard scuffling, a loud clatter, more shrieking, and then a
sharp slap. The next moment, a thin, straggly girl appeared at the top of the
stairs. A rough hand propelled her farther into the classroom. She tripped and
fell, then jumped up and clenched her fists. “I ain’t goin’, Ty!”

A large, scruffy-looking man with a dark beard and a slouch hat clomped
behind the girl and grabbed her arm. “You’re goin’.”

The girl balked. She planted her bare feet against the wooden
planks and tried to twist away from the man’s grip. Clumps of tangled, dirty
hair flew about her shoulders as she struggled. Her oversized overalls had been
cut off; the ragged edges swept the floor. She lashed out with one foot, but
the man was quick. He landed a sharp smack to the girl’s cheek.

Then he turned and faced Mr. Foster. “Howdy, Teacher. Macy needs
schoolin’. Mebbe you can learn her somethin’ afore the term lets out.”
Macy jerked loose and folded her arms across her chest. “This here’s
a hoity-toity school, and I

ain’t gonna be caught dead in it.” She spat on the
floor.

Ty, who Andi figured must be Macy’s older brother, shook her. “Shame
on you! What a way to act your first day of school. What’ll these kids think of
your upbringin’?”

“That I ain’t got any.” Macy looked around the room defiantly. “Look
at y’all. A bunch of toads with your mouths hangin’ open.”

Andi, whose jaw had dropped at the spectacle, snapped her mouth
shut. Next to her, Cory chuckled under his breath. “We’re in for a show,” he
whispered. Andi agreed. This interruption was much better than dividing up a sentence into its parts of speech.
To Cory’s left, Davy Cooper put down his chalk and grinned.

Ty gave Macy another shake. “I’m gonna leave ya here, girl. If I find
out you’ve run off, I’ll take a strap to ya. Hear me?”

At this dire pronouncement, Macy lost her fight and become sullen. “I
hear.” She glared at the spellboundpupils.
“What’re y’all lookin’ at?”

The entire class turned back to their work, except for the three
students at the board. Andi watched with interest while Mr. Foster licked his
lips and approached the strangers. “I am Mr. Foster, the schoolmaster. And you
are . . .”

Ty clapped a hand over his sister’s mouth and grimaced through his
unkempt beard. “I’d best warn you. Macy’s not strong on mindin’ her manners. It
comes from havin’ no ma, but only a pack of scruffy brothers to keep company
with. We ain’t too good at raisin’ no girl-child.”

Macy peeled Ty’s fingers away. “I ain’t no child!”

Ty scowled. “Just do what you’re told.” He turned on his heel and clattered
down the steps.

Macy’s shoulders slumped when the door at the bottom of the stairs
slammed shut. “You can’t make me learn nothin’,” she challenged the teacher
from under filthy, too-long bangs.

Yikes! Thanks for reminding me. I forgot all about my sneak peeks! I'll see what I can do. It's been a terribly busy month with my helping my DD school and my D-in-Law's knee surgery. Keep reminding me!!!

Get a Head Start!

About Andi

I'm the main character in 4 book series: Circle C Beginnings, Circle C Stepping Stones, Circle C Adventures, and Circle C Milestones. I live on a huge cattle and horse ranch in 1880 California. These are my adventures.